So if the programmatic pros outweigh the cons (and many brands, despite the naysayers, do continue to invest), how do you go about selecting a provider? Many purport to offer the same benefits, so it’s only until you get under the metaphorical hood that you’re really able to differentiate. “Even then it might be a bit tricky,” points out Alina Morkin, VP marketing at Voices.com. “One of the main things that determines their success is the effectiveness of their algorithm, but that’s a bit of a black box because each is proprietary.”
So what can you reasonably expect to judge them on? Well, first consider past successes and customer testimonials; then evaluate whether they’ll be able to provide you with metrics you need. Is the ramping up period fast enough for you? When the algorithm’s optimised, what’s the anticipated click through and subsequent conversion rate? “Ensure you have visibility into what is happening, and expectations around what you should be seeing and when,” says Alina. “Check that the pixel being used doesn’t have an impact on your site load times. (A pixel is a little snippet of code that’s dropped onto a visitor’s browser, so you can track whether they’ve viewed or clicked on an ad or message, and made a purchase.) And bear in mind the fact that the more specific your customer – and the less traffic you have currently from that type of person – the longer the ramp time (ie. spend with little to show for it).”
"The Daily Mail comments section is populated with thousands of questionable comments every day – but does this mean you wouldn’t advertise there even if you knew it was where your customers were?"
It’s also worth noting that buying ads in the open real-time bidding marketplaces, rather than the private marketplaces, is risky – and brands should consider investing in ad tech that incorporates brand safety, anti-fraud and contextual relevance functions to help counter some of the potential risks.
Maintaining brand integrity
Blacklisting – the process of putting together a list of domains on which you wouldn’t want your advertising to appear – has now been cast aside in favour of white-listing. Either way, it’s not just the far-right extremist sites you need to be worried about. “We worked with one provider that had placement on some very reputable dating sites,” says Alina. “Sure – some of our prospective clients might be present on those sites – but are they really going to be thinking about where they’re going to find that perfect Spanish-accented voiceover for their project while on them? I’m going to say no. The inventory needs to be screened for that contextual element as well.”
Deciding which sites make the cut will require a degree of pragmatism. Just because you’re not an avid Daily Mail reader doesn’t negate the fact that it’s the most visited English language newspaper site in the world, for example. “The ethics question is really about brand safety,” says Neil Eatson, CEO and founder, Appraise Digital. “But you’ve got to think about what works for the consumer rather than what works for you as a brand, and strike the right balance. The Daily Mail comments section is populated with thousands of questionable comments every day – but does this mean you wouldn’t advertise there even if you knew it was where your customers were?”
Seizing back control
While some brands are unquestionably putting the brakes on programmatic spend, it’s clear this method of advertising is here to stay. What might differ – which a number of experts agree on – is ownership of the process; instead of using external agencies, many brands are looking to establish programmatic capabilities in-house.
Twelve months ago the digital futurists were predicting the dawn of a new age of programmatic television advertising: today the focus remains on transparency
Real-time bidding (RTB) systems will also evolve, as Craig Gooding, co-founder at Vibrant Digital, predicts: “RTB systems will introduce more unique and native formats than just banner ads; they’re also enabling new campaign controls and criteria, as the ability to sell ad inventory on a viewable cost per mille basis shows. And the systems are starting to detail ad inventory’s actual past performance so ad buyers can be far more calculated about the ad inventory they select for their campaigns – capabilities that are spurring organisations such as GroupM and Unilever to specify performance criteria for every single ad impression.”
For Craig, clients look more willing now to compromise on the number of impressions bought and instead focus on guaranteeing premium viewability – a pretty seismic shift in approach. “And things like optimum page positions and combinations of targeting data are also becoming available to ad buyers through RTB systems,” he says. “But when it comes to the efficiency of ad trading, more needs to be done to integrate the industry’s established ad booking systems with automated platforms. There have been improvements, but more needs to happen.”
Twelve months ago the digital futurists were predicting the dawn of a new age of programmatic television advertising: today the focus remains on transparency. But who will be pushing the debate forward and inciting action? According to Craig, it’s down to brands, planners and buyers. “Rather than shrugging their shoulders about the problems – namely ads appearing in damaging environments, poor ad viewability or ads suffering bot fraud – they need to take action, and move budget away from platforms that don’t deliver the quality of ad placement that’s both ethical for their business and appropriate for their consumers. There are ads available programmatically that are highly focused on those issues; it’s up to brands to use them.”
Programmatic in nutshell: definitions and acronyms explained
Programmatic
Automated bidding on advertising inventory in real time, for the opportunity to show an ad to a specific customer, in a specific context.
Ad inventory
The amount of ad space a publisher has available to sell to an advertiser.
Demand-side platform (DSP)
A demand-side platform enables advertisers and agencies to automate the purchase of display, video, mobile and search ads.
Supply-side platform (SSP)
A supply-side platform is a software platform that enables publishers to automatically sell display, video, and mobile ad impressions, maximising the price they can charge for these.
Real-time bidding (RTB)
A means by which advertising inventory is bought and sold on a per-impression basis, via programmatic instantaneous auction,
Targeting
Targeting allows relevant advertising to be served based on various criteria.
Ad exchanges
Ad exchanges are auction-based, often automated, digital marketplaces that enable multiple parties including advertisers, publishers, ad networks, demand-side platforms and supply-side platforms to buy and sell display, video and mobile inventory.
